We recently connected with Alex Crow and have shared our conversation below.

Alex, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of our favorite things to hear about is stories around the nicest thing someone has done for someone else – what’s the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?

My childhood growing up in Ottawa Hills, Ohio revolved entirely around dance. From the age of 3 years old I was on stage dancing fearlessly in front of large crowds, performing, traveling and competing until I was old enough to pursue dance as a career. I went to school in Los Angeles to receive my bachelors in Dance and performing arts, and soon started auditioning for commercial and theatre level dance positions. Dance was my entire life. The only thing that mattered to me was my life as a professional dancer and performance artist. It didn’t matter to me how broke I was (financially or physically), I had no issues sacrificing for the sake of my art. You could say I was a stereotypical starving artist for some time.

Like many kids after finishing college I felt quite lost at a soul level — I simply did not know who I was or what was truly best for me and my wellbeing. All of my focus until finishing college was completely centered on the perception of others, as it was the opinions and preferences of the choreographers, casting directors and teachers that mattered when it came to my success and survival as a dance artist.

As you might imagine, this way of moving in the world led to complex and compounded issues on every level of my being — emotionally I was deeply repressed, mentally abusive towards myself, physically suffering due to untended injuries and spiritually numb.

In 2011 I was still living in LA, struggling to make ends meet as a fresh dancer on the block just having graduated from college. Luckily, the dance company I was working for was traveling up and down from the Bay Area regularly for performance and rehearsal opportunities and began to sense a deep connection with the city of San Francisco. There was a magic there that my soul longed for, and very soon after having been introduced to that city I chose to take the leap and move there with very little money to my name and knowing only a couple other dance friends in the area.

After a few months of struggling in every way to settle in a new city and new dance community, a dance friend of mine introduced me to a local yoga studio in the Mission District of San Francisco — a place that I would eventually call my second home, a place called Laughing Lotus Yoga Center. My first class in this space was with a truly masterful teacher by the name of Keith Borden. With the support of Keith and the owner of the studio, Jasmine Tarkeshi, I would come to feel more deeply into the subtle layers of my body-being than I had ever accessed in my many years of dance performance and training. At the time, each class was a revelation — opening layers upon layers of stuck emotions and trauma that I had not been able to touch before. I was healing for the first time in my life.

Due to my financial standings, I began to ask to see if I could continue coming to yoga class in exchange for a work trade. I ended up working behind the desk at this yoga studio for a few years and began to feel myself shifting towards a life in the healing arts day by day.

There is one day that stands out among the rest however, and this is the day that I experience the greatest acts of kindness I have ever known…

One day the owner of the studio, Jasmine came up to me and asked me if I was interested in attending the Yoga Teacher Training that she was organizing. Of course I had thought about it! My whole life was been changed by this ancient practice and I certainly was curious to go deeper, but as you now know I had absolutely no money to spend on such a training. I remember her looking into my eyes and saying with total love, “What if I said you could come and receive the training free of any cost?”.

Now mind you, I was recovering from an entire childhood of both extreme success and extreme failure. I had become accustomed to rejection and was used to the feeling of having to prove myself in every scenario I was in. It definitely took me by surprise to hear this from Jasmine, and took me some time to fully understand what she was saying to me.

I never asked her what drew her to give me such an enormous gift, but it ended up coming back to her a thousand fold. Soon after I finished my training, Jasmine ended up offering me a teaching position at the studio (which I resisted with my whole being by the way!). With her continuous support and encouragement I ended up teaching yoga at her studio for seven years, traveling to India to continue my studies, diving more and more deeply into the healing arts. I even began teaching along side her in the last 3 years of my time in San Francisco co-leading teacher trainings. It all ended up coming full circle, and to this day I will never forget her kindness and the great ability to see my potential even in my darkest moments. With her faith, I was able to move mountains.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I work predominantly in the ceremonial and healing arts with a focus on earth-honoring rituals and traditions.

I started my personal healing journey through the study and practice of yoga and after 7 years of practice and teaching yoga in San Francisco I began to experience deeper and deeper longing to understand the subtle energetic realms and how my relationship to the Earth was fundamental to me experiencing a sense of wholeness and belonging.

At the height of my career as a yoga teacher I took a massive leap of faith and moved away from my community to an off-grid ranch out in the desert of New Mexico where I began to learn directly from the elemental beings of the Earth how to live in greater harmony and balance with Life. It was there in New Mexico where I was introduced to the shamanic healing arts, internal martial arts and Cha Dao “the way of Tea” — all of which I am currently a student of to this day.

I have since relocated to Dripping Springs, Texas where I host regular tea ceremonies earth-honoring rituals in my country home to support our homecoming with the natural world and our inherent wellbeing. I specialize in holding sacred space for each person to be more fully present in the current challenge or rite of passage they are moving through by creating personalized rituals and ceremonies to honor their lives.

I am also the founder of an online Elemental Earth School named “Homecoming” which seeks to immerse it’s students in the multi-faceted nature of the elements as we pass through the changing seasons. I am very honored and excited to share that the Yin Semester of Homecoming is currently in session!

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

Faith. Living a life that is completely guided by the unseen realms requires an enormous amount of faith and trust in the wisdom and intelligence of Life. This path is certainly not for the faint of heart!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Integrity. In the spiritual fields, people need to be able to trust you completely. There is far too much room for manipulation and I know many people (including myself) who have been “hoodwinked” so to speak by people who claim to be “spiritual teachers” or “gurus”. I am very up front with my clients and I communicate to them clearly what I can and cannot do for them. I am not a spiritual teacher, rather I am someone who can hold a very safe, loving and compassionate space for you to deepen in connection with your soul, spirit and the natural world.

Contact Info:

• Website: groundedcrown.com
• Instagram: @groundedcrown
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDCkdNGxkVkqMTBr5_mTE3Q
• Other: groundedcrown.com/homecoming

Image Credits
Photographer of all photos : Marisa Franco